DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group could launch an all-new, low-price brand aimed at young buyers within two to three years. The brand would be an entry-level spinoff of the automaker's Dodge or Jeep brands, Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with The Detroit News last week.

General Motors' manufacturing arm plans to sharply increase the amount of new white-collar work it sends outside the United States this year as part of cost-cutting effort reduce costs, according to an internal report obtained by The Detroit News. But the plan represents less than 1% of GM's global manufacturing budget.